Love is an open book

This light, heartwarming outing from Blumberg (Second Tide's the Charm) finds romance author Mia Brady struggling with writer's block while trying to draft a friends-to-lovers book, the final in her bestselling series. In her personal life, Mia has sworn off romance between friends ever since her former best friend turned brother-in-law, Ted, broke her heart back in college. Meanwhile, Gavin Lane, Ted's college roommate, has been crushing on Mia since he found her crying over Ted at their apartment door. Though he's never acted on his feelings, over the past 10 years they've become close friends. Now Gavin suggests she beat her writer's block by acting out romance tropes with him and seeing which ones might actually work. Blumberg uses this cute but familiar premise to create a fluffy will-they-won't-they that dances along the line between friendship and romance. Unfortunately, Mia occasionally comes across as frustratingly emotionally immature, especially in response to Gavin's effusive professions of love. Still, the vibe is breezy and the metafictional nods to romance tropes add some fun. Readers looking for an easy, G-rated beach read will be pleased. Agent: Rachel Brooks, BookEnds Literary. (Aug.)

A romance author reenacts popular tropes with her best friend to help cure her writer's block, not knowing he's been head over heels for her since Day 1. Mia Brady is at a professional standstill. The TV adaptation of her bestselling romance series has become a huge success, and now she has to write another book--the long-awaited friends-to-lovers romance that will give two favorite characters their happily-ever-after. The only problem? Based on her own dating history, Mia doesn't believe friendship can lead to something more. Losing a solid friendship is a blow she's not willing to experience again, which is why she's never gone there with her best friend, Gavin Lane. But now she's got some serious writer's block, and if she doesn't finish her book by the deadline, the show's writers will craft their own ending. Knowing she owes it to her fans as well as herself to finish the story her way, Mia asks Gavin to help her with an experiment to get her creative juices flowing--reenacting iconic romance tropes to see if one of them sparks a plot. It would be a great idea if it weren't for the fact that Gavin has been nursing a crush on Mia since the day they met nine years ago. As the two BFFs role play through the classics, tropes like workplace romance and forced proximity suddenly begin to feel a lot more weighted. Blumberg's latest is irresistibly fun, and the sweetness of the story is exemplified by Mia and Gavin's slow-burn romance, which never moves into territory that's too emotionally heavy despite the characters' struggles with vulnerability and commitment. While the pacing is a little uneven, the dual-point-of-view structure is imperative to the book's success; the reader needs Gavin's tender, unyielding belief that he and Mia can weather anything as a counterweight to her constant wavering. It's also hard not to be won over by a story that so cleverly wields its meta-awareness of the genre, which results in some of the book's best and most swoonworthy moments. A heartfelt, charmingly self-aware ode to romance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.